Join Amazon Prime and ship Two-Day for free and Overnight for $3.99. Already a member? Sign in.

 

or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering.
 
 
More Buying Choices
41 used & new from $36.90

Have one to sell? Sell yours here
 
   
Categories for the Working Mathematician (Graduate Texts in Mathematics)
 
 
Tell the Publisher!
I’d like to read this book on Kindle

Don’t have a Kindle? Get yours here.
 
  

Categories for the Working Mathematician (Graduate Texts in Mathematics) (Hardcover)

by Saunders Mac Lane (Author) "Category theory starts with the observation that many properties of mathematical systems can be unified and simplified by a presentation with diagrams of arrows..." (more)
Key Phrases: biproduct diagram, absolute coequalizer, arrows all functions, Mac Lane, Comp Haus (more...)
3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)

List Price: $69.95
Price: $62.95 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping. Details
You Save: $7.00 (10%)
Upgrade this book for $1.90 more, and you can read, search, and annotate every page online. See details
In Stock.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. Gift-wrap available.

Want it delivered Thursday, July 16? Choose One-Day Shipping at checkout. Details
28 new from $49.94 13 used from $36.90
Also Available in: List Price: Our Price: Other Offers:
Hardcover (Import) 9 used & new from $53.89
Paperback (1) 9 used & new from $39.98
Unknown Binding (Corr. 6th print) Order it used!

Frequently Bought Together

Customers buy this book with Topoi: The Categorial Analysis of Logic (Dover Books on Mathematics) by Robert Goldblatt

Categories for the Working Mathematician (Graduate Texts in Mathematics) + Topoi: The Categorial Analysis of Logic (Dover Books on Mathematics)
  • This item: Categories for the Working Mathematician (Graduate Texts in Mathematics) by Saunders Mac Lane

    In Stock.
    Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
    This item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping. Details

  • Topoi: The Categorial Analysis of Logic (Dover Books on Mathematics) by Robert Goldblatt

    In Stock.
    Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
    Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details


Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

An Introduction to Homological Algebra (Cambridge Studies in Advanced Mathematics)

An Introduction to Homological Algebra (Cambridge Studies in Advanced Mathematics)

by Charles A. Weibel
5.0 out of 5 stars (4)  $45.00
The Geometry of Schemes (Graduate Texts in Mathematics)

The Geometry of Schemes (Graduate Texts in Mathematics)

by David Eisenbud
4.7 out of 5 stars (6)  $39.95
Algebraic Geometry (Graduate Texts in Mathematics)

Algebraic Geometry (Graduate Texts in Mathematics)

by Robin Hartshorne
4.3 out of 5 stars (6)  $59.96
Sheaves in Geometry and Logic: A First Introduction to Topos Theory (Universitext)

Sheaves in Geometry and Logic: A First Introduction to Topos Theory (Universitext)

by Saunders MacLane
5.0 out of 5 stars (2)  $71.95
Commutative Algebra: with a View Toward Algebraic Geometry (Graduate Texts in Mathematics)

Commutative Algebra: with a View Toward Algebraic Geometry (Graduate Texts in Mathematics)

by David Eisenbud
4.3 out of 5 stars (7)  $44.95
Explore similar items

Editorial Reviews

Review
Second Edition S.M. Lane Categories for the Working Mathematician "A very useful introduction to category theory."—INTERNATIONALE MATHEMATISCHE NACHRICHTEN

Product Description
Categories for the Working Mathematician provides an array of general ideas useful in a wide variety of fields. Starting from the foundations, this book illuminates the concepts of category, functor, natural transformation, and duality. The book then turns to adjoint functors, which provide a description of universal constructions, an analysis of the representations of functors by sets of morphisms, and a means of manipulating direct and inverse limits. These categorical concepts are extensively illustrated in the remaining chapters, which include many applications of the basic existence theorem for adjoint functors. The categories of algebraic systems are constructed from certain adjoint-like data and characterized by Beck's theorem. After considering a variety of applications, the book continues with the construction and expoitation of Kan extensions. This second edition includes a number of revisions and additions, including two new chapters on topics of active interest. One is on symmetric monoidal categories and braided monoidal categories and the coherence theorems for them. The second describes 2-categories and the higher dimensional categories which have recently come into prominence. The bibliography has also been expanded to cover some of the many other recent advances concerning categories.

Product Details

  • Hardcover: 314 pages
  • Publisher: Springer; 2nd edition (September 25, 1998)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0387984038
  • ISBN-13: 978-0387984032
  • Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 1 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #472,564 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

    #52 in  Books > Professional & Technical > Professional Science > Mathematics > Geometry & Topology > Algebraic Geometry
    #70 in  Books > Science > Mathematics > Geometry & Topology > Algebraic Geometry

Inside This Book (learn more)

Citations (learn more)
This book cites 100 books:
See all 100 books this book cites
 
100 books cite this book:
See all 100 books citing this book


Books on Related Topics (learn more)
 
 

What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?


Tags Customers Associate with This Product

 (What's this?)
Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
Check the boxes next to the tags you consider relevant or enter your own tags in the field below.
(1)

Your tags: Add your first tag
 
Help others find this product — tag it for Amazon search
No one has tagged this product for Amazon search yet. Why not be the first to suggest a search for which it should appear?

Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store

If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store. Learn more

 

Customer Reviews

8 Reviews
5 star:
 (3)
4 star:
 (2)
3 star:
 (2)
2 star:
 (1)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
3.9 out of 5 stars (8 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
32 of 34 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars One of the great books in mathematics, September 24, 2000
By Colin McLarty (Chardon, OH USA) - See all my reviews
This book is a classic. Clearly written, drawing on a vast number of different applications and motivations for the subject. Eilenberg and Mac Lane created category theory and this book is alive with the very style of thought Mac Lane brought to it in the first place. It is obvious that Mac Lane wrote each page, and each exercise, with a view of the whole book in mind. He starts with the very basics, assuming indeed that you know nothing of category theory. He goes on to adjunctions, limits, the adjoint functor theorems, monads (triples), monoidal categories, Abelian cateories, Kan extensions, higher dimensional categories, and categorical foundations. It is a masterpiece and one of the great books in mathematics.
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A Classic, July 2, 2004
Well, let us think about this a little bit...You want to learn Category theory, whether for some course or just for the fun of it, and now where do you turn in order to learn the necessary concepts. If you are a mathematician and have some experience, then you turn to the masters, the originators of the given subject and read their work. Sure, being the founder of a given subject does not imply that you are a good expositor and hence are capable of revealing the necessary concepts for the beginner-allow me to inform that Mac Lane is indeed as good as an expositor as he was a mathematician. For any doubters, I point you to the only other text you should read on Category theory, namely, "Category Theory" by Horst Herrlich and compare this text with Mac Lane's. Aside from that, and with respect to the text, for most beginners or interested readers I would suggest the following outline: Read 1.1-6; 2.1-3 & 8 possibly 2.4; all of 3; as for 4 skip section 3; 5.1-5; all of 8. Then, dependent upon your desires and or focus as well as your mathematical ability, it should become obvious which of the remaining topics should be read. Finally, the only other source I would recommend for learning Category theory can be found on-line using the keyword 'Awodey'. Anyways, Enjoy and good luck.
Comment Comment (1) | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
30 of 34 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Definitely a grad text, July 22, 2001
By A Customer
This book is extraordinarily well written. It covers the necessary topics in a concise, orderly manner. HOWEVER, it presumes a substantial amount of knowledges concerning various algebraic/abstract structures in the field of mathematics. If you already have had experience with such structures, and are simply looking to understand them from a different perspective - this is the book for you. However, if you have limited knowledge with regards to advanced math (ie - grad level math) then try the book 'Arrows, Structures and Functors: The Categorical Imperative' by Manes and Arbib. This introduces the reader gradually to simple algebraic structures, monoids, groups, metric spaces, topological spaces, and the categories that can be built around them.
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)


Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
 
 
 
Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Simply Great
Have you ever tried reading Descartes' "Geometry"? It's not a good place to learn about coordinate geometry. I tried. Read more
Published 18 months ago by Josh J. Wiley

2.0 out of 5 stars Poorly written standard text.
This book has everything you need, but it is written in an abstruse style in my opinion.
Published 19 months ago by D. Spivak

3.0 out of 5 stars You may not need this unless you major in category theory.
I entirely agree with the reviewer Lucas Wilman.
As a book by the creator of category theory, it has extensively incorpoated relevant items. Read more
Published on May 13, 2004

4.0 out of 5 stars Classic and worth it
It is difficult to make understand what "is" category theory. Is it a foundational discipline? Is it a discipline studying homomorphisms between algebras? Is it nonsense? Read more
Published on August 12, 2003 by Pietro Braione

3.0 out of 5 stars Kind of Dull
I read this due to its odd title. It is fairly easy to understand. It assumes that you have very little previous knowledge of the subject. Read more
Published on July 4, 2000

Only search this product's reviews



Customer Discussions

 Beta (What's this?)
New! See all customer communities, and bookmark your communities to keep track of them.
This product's forum (0 discussions)
  Discussion Replies Latest Post
  No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
  [Cancel]


Active discussions in related forums
   


Product Information from the Amapedia Community

Beta (What's this?)



Look for Similar Items by Category


Smooth Operator

Shop for garage door openers

Find garage door products (opener kits, remotes, mini-key-chain controls, and wireless-key entry systems) in the Hardware Store. Opening the garage door shouldn’t be a chore.

Shop all garage door hardware

 

Best Books of 2008

Best of 2008
Find our top 100 editors' picks as well as customers' favorites in dozens of categories in our Best Books of 2008 Store.
 

Buy Three Books, Get a Fourth Free

4-for-3 Books
Order any four eligible books under $10 and get the lowest-price book free in our 4-for-3 Books Store. See more details.
 
Shop for Garage Storage Products
Make No Bones About It Create a place to store your Bone Creeper. Browse through garage shelving and accessories in the Home Improvement Store.
 

 

Feedback

If you need help or have a question for Customer Service, contact us.
 Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
Is there any other feedback you would like to provide?

Your comments can help make our site better for everyone.


Where's My Stuff?

Shipping & Returns

Need Help?

Your Recent History

  (What's this?)
You have no recently viewed items or searches.

After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in.

Look to the right column to find helpful suggestions for your shopping session.

Continue shopping: Top Sellers
Paranoia
Paranoia by Joseph Finder
My Soul to Lose
My Soul to Lose by Rachel Vincent
Glenn Beck's Common Sense
Glenn Beck's Common Sense

Conditions of Use | Privacy Notice © 1996-2009, Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates